With the advent and advancement of robotic technology, robots are now being relied upon to perform a variety of repetitive tasks in the manufacturing industry. To accomplish these tasks, robots are equipped with manipulative arms which are able to perform certain routine manual or manipulative tasks using various end effector tooling. For example, robots have shown dexterity in performing such exemplary tasks as welding, painting, deburring, routing, assembling, handling, and working on objects involving specific tolerances.
The programmability of a robot provides the flexibility to allow a single, common robot to perform all of the tasks noted above. However, in order to perform these tasks with a common robot, the end effector tooling must change with the function to be performed or the object to be handled. For instance, the end effector tooling may require vacuum cups to handle and move sheet metal parts. In another instance, the end effector may comprise pneumatic clamps for securing workpieces in a particular position so that they may be properly machined. Other end effector tooling may utilize welder guns for the welding of certain metallic workpieces. Other end effector tooling may utilize pneumatic pin locators for locating locator holes in a certain workpiece. Thus, in order to utilize the full potential of a robot, it is necessary to be able to change the end effector tooling in a somewhat efficient manner. Efficiency may thereby be increased by providing a quick and simple apparatus by which to change the end effector tooling on the robot.
Various methods have been developed to connect the end effector tooling to a robot. For instance, it is well known to bolt and unbolt the end effector tooling to the robot. The use of a threaded bolt is a time-consuming and potentially complicated method of attaching such end effector tooling to a robot, and therefore, such a method is undesirable in a production environment. Other various disconnects have utilized complicated and/or expensive systems by which to ensure a quick disconnect between the end effector tooling and the robot. These systems typically have the disadvantage of being expensive and high in maintenance thereby making them undesirable in a production environment. Other quick disconnect couplings have been developed which may be attached in various misaligned positions. Thus, a worker may improperly align the two halves of the coupling thereby creating inefficiencies that are undesirable in a production environment.
Some end effector tooling requires the use of a power source. For instance, pneumatic clamps require the supply of a pressurized power source, vacuum cups require a supply of vacuum, welding guns require the supply of electrical power, etc. Therefore, when disconnecting end effector tooling, couplings must be provided for connecting and disconnecting such power sources at the point of the quick disconnect coupling. Many of these power source couplings remain exposed when the end effector tooling is connected to the robot thereby allowing the power source couplings to become potentially damaged while in use in the production environment. If such power source couplings are damaged, they must then be replaced, thereby creating further inefficiencies in the production environment.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a simple and inexpensive quick disconnect that allows for the quick and efficient coupling of an end effector to a manipulator. It would also be desirable to provide a quick disconnect coupling that could only be coupled in one particular position. It would also be desirable to provide a quick disconnect coupling that protected power source couplings extending from the manipulator to the end effector.